Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – A Cash woman faces multiple counts of forgery after police said an internal audit revealed more than 50 falsified invoices used to defraud a local business, resulting in over $23,000 in losses.
District Judge David Boling found probable cause on May 18 to charge 57-year-old Lisa Annette Bradford-Tarvin with two class C felonies:
- 55 counts of second-degree forgery
- One count of theft greater than $5,000 but less than $25,000 – all others
According to the probable cause affidavit, on March 16, Jonesboro police officers were contacted about allegations of forgery and fraudulent business charges. The victim said that, after a former employee, Bradford, was arrested for credit card fraud, the business conducted an internal audit of company accounts. It was found that multiple receipts and invoices had either been altered or omitted from company records.
Employees gave officers copies of pages removed from a Lowe’s billing statement. They explained that invoices were routinely paid upon arrival without verifying the total page count. The omitted pages reflected purchases totaling $5,969.23 made by Bradford.
Officers were also given documentation from Plaza Tire Service showing discrepancies in vehicle maintenance receipts. Staff said receipts submitted for payment appeared to reflect routine maintenance on company-owned vehicles.
However, after receiving the original copies directly from Plaza Tire Service, employees found that 15 receipts had been changed from vehicles owned by Bradford or her family members to company vehicles. This resulted in the business paying $10,941.92 for repairs and services.
The affidavit continued, saying more records were obtained from O’Reilly Auto Parts. Staff said purchase order numbers on several receipts either belonged to unrelated departments or had not been used for years.
Comparing these with the original receipts from O’Reilly Auto Parts, investigators found that the purchases had also been made by Bradford or members of her family. They were found to have been altered to remove names associated with Bradford and replace them with other employee names or purchase numbers. In total, 40 altered receipts were found, resulting in $6,472.80 in costs.
In an interview with officers, Bradford admitted to intercepting the original receipts, altering them, and submitting fake copies to the business for payment. She went on to say that family members whose names or vehicles appeared on the original receipts believed the charges were being applied to a personal “credit line” associated with her and would later be deducted from her paycheck.
According to investigators, Bradford received reimbursement payments from the family members even though the purchases were never charged to her because the receipts had already been falsified or omitted. In total, 55 receipts were altered or omitted over a three-year period, resulting in a loss of $23,383.95.
Bradford is being held in the Craighead County Detention Center on a $25,000 cash/surety bond, awaiting her next court appearance on June 26.
